Due to a large untreated patient pool and the recent approval of new
treatments, the hepatitis C market will more than treble from $5.7
billion in 2012 to $18.6 billion by 2019, at an impressive Compound
Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.5%

The company's new report* states that the hepatitis C market will
receive this major boost with the 2013 approval of Sovaldi, which has
the potential to transform the treatment algorithm for hepatitis C. Due
to the clinical potential of the drug, Sovaldi will be very expensive,
reaching a cost of $86,000 annually and setting a high price benchmark
for future drugs.

Dominic Trewartha, report analyst, says: Sovaldi boasts excellent
tolerability and a Sustained Virologic Response ate approaching 100%,
without specificity to any genotype 1. In genotypes 2 and 3, Sovaldi is
administered with ribavirin alone, alleviating the need for Pegasys or
Pegintron and therefore reducing the rate of adverse events associated
with these two therapies. As a result, many patients who have previously
deferred treatment are expected to re-enter the market and use Sovaldi.

Additional drugs, such as Olysio, which was also approved in 2013, and
daclatasvir are anticipated to compete with Sovaldi, although they are
not proven to be as effective and can only be used in genotype 1
infections.

According to the authors, Sovaldi-ledipasvir and ABT-450 triple therapy
will further advance the hepatitis C market and displace older drugs
from 2015 onwards. This is due to the fact that these therapies can be
used without peginterferon and have demonstrated 100% efficacy in
genotype 1, with strong tolerability and low dosing.

The late-stage pipeline for hepatitis C is exceptionally promising, and
we expect new products to completely transform the clinical and
commercial landscape during the forecast period, Trewartha concludes.

This report provides in-depth analysis of the major antiviral drugs used
in the treatment of hepatitis C, including analyses of their safety,
efficacy, treatment patterns and strengths/weaknesses. It also gives a
market forecast between 2012 and 2019.

This report was built using data and information sourced from
proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house
analysis conducted by a team of industry experts.

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